FIU, Miami set to meet for first time

Miami and Florida International, teams with campuses 9 miles apart, will meet for the first time in football when the Golden Panthers make a visit to the Hurricanes' home field at the Orange Bowl.

Although neither team is actually based within the city of Miami -- the University of Miami campus is in Coral Gables, while FIU's campus is south of the city limits in unincorporated Miami-Dade County -- there's still a tangible sense that this game will be more about South Florida bragging rights than anything else.

"Having the opportunity to play the University of Miami, we're talking one of the elite football programs in the country, year-in and year-out," FIU coach Don Strock said. "It's a game where our players can see where they measure up. We've played several of those this year and I'm sure they're looking forward to it."

And there is the extra intrigue of FIU's roster being filled with players from Miami-Dade and Broward counties, including many who probably thought they were good enough to play for the Hurricanes.

Virtually everyone in uniform on both sidelines Saturday will either have played with or against numerous players from the other side in their high school careers.

"This is a chance for a lot of guys here to show guys there, 'Hey, I could have been there with you,'" said FIU linebacker Antwan Barnes, who played at Miami Norland High. "And being that it's a city game, in Miami, it's going to feel like a bowl game or a national championship game. There's a lot of hype around this game."

Miami (3-2) is a four-touchdown favorite over the Golden Panthers (0-6).

But the Hurricanes -- who almost certainly took much from watching FIU take another Atlantic Coast Conference team, Maryland, down to the game's final play before falling 14-10 earlier this season -- insist that they're not taking this game lightly.

"What we have to gain from this game is respect, momentum, a chance to move up," said Miami coach Larry Coker, whose team is unranked for the fourth straight week. "We've won a couple games now in a row. As you win, rankings and all those things start to happen, so it's an important football game for us."

FIU is no ordinary 0-6 team.

The Golden Panthers have lost five of those games by a combined 14 points, including a pair of one-point games to Middle Tennessee and South Florida where missed extra points cost FIU dearly.

They lost by five points to Bowling Green, dropped a heartbreaker at Maryland -- a game where quarterback Josh Padrick's pass from the Terrapins' 9 was intercepted as time expired -- and then fell in an NCAA record-tying seven overtimes to North Texas last weekend, 25-22.

"If you just watched film and didn't know who you were watching or what their record was, I don't think anyone would think they were 0-6," Miami tight end Greg Olsen sad. "We're not overlooking anybody."

For FIU, this is clearly about pride.

For Miami, the stakes are a bit higher.

The Hurricanes are coming off their best effort of the season, a 27-7 win over North Carolina last Saturday, and play nothing but Atlantic Coast Conference games the rest of the way. Another win would make them 4-2, heading into a game at Duke next weekend -- followed by what shapes up as a huge road test against Georgia Tech on Oct. 28.

Another upset loss would take away all the positive gains the Hurricanes have made in the last two weeks, and they know it.

"If we go out and worry about Miami, then it really doesn't matter who we play," Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said. "But don't get me wrong -- nobody is underestimating this team whatsoever."